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Broadband Access
Optical Entertainment Launches FTTH-Fed Service
OEN Debuts Triple Play Bundle In Houston
by Jim Barthold
Optical Entertainment Network (OEN) is finished with its trials
and ready to launch a triple play of IPTV, commercial quality
VoIP and 10 Mbps of symmetrical broadband data Internet to
single family residential homes, multiple dwelling units
(MDUs) and business customers in the Northwest section of
Houston.
The launch, which includes 40 channels and growing of HDTV
content was built primarily on the backbone of a 5,000-
homes-passed fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network first
developed by ClearWorks and then purchased and
reconfigured by OEN.
“We’ve been testing on a soft launch with 100 homes for the
last month and are now beginning to generate business,”
said Al Estrada, CEO of OEN. “Fiber-to-the-home really
presents a company such as ours the chance to deliver a
product that’s not a me-too product that stands head-and-
shoulders above cable and satellite.”
While the 10 Mbps symmetrical data speeds were especially
embraced by the trial users
“We’ve proven that the bigger the pipe, the more time is
actually spent in front of the computer and the better the
overall experience is for the user,” Estrada said. “You can
monetize it by the stickiness effect that you give that
individual user. The better the experience, the chances are
less that they will ever leave you or go to another provider.”
As if 10 Mbps, which surpasses most existing cable and DSL
offerings, wasn’t enough, OEN also found demand – and a
willingness to pay – for even more bandwidth for gamers,
home offices and even network storage, Estrada said.
“We get detailed data from our beta users on a daily basis
and we get those kinds of requests: ‘I’m running out of
bandwidth. Can I store all my graphics files I use for my
architectural firm on your server?’ I don’t think we have a
huge market for that, but for the small office/home office and
the business entity … those applications will just go through
the roof,” he said.
The triple play of services will cost anywhere from $100 to
$200 per month depending on the package – although OEN
does not tier its programming.
“We estimate that the triple play customer will pay an
average of about $150 a month and that’s all in with taxes
and services included,” he said.
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